Meet ONE OK ROCK: Toru

Allo!

I hope you guys had a merry merry holidays! I did even if I am still recovering from a cold virus (take care of yourselves minna!). Anyway, we’re getting close to the end minna! ONE OK ROCK Live in Manila is just days away and here in Manila, the tension in the fan groups, twitter and every social media imaginable is brewing up like madness! Everyone is so hyped and if you are like me, everyone cannot wait to see the band finally for the first time in Philippine shores! Some of these guys may be preparing for the big day through gifts, their outfit for the day and the like. For others, #TeamAirport or #TeamHotel.

Hearts are all a flutter for ONE OK ROCK now!!!

But before we do all of that preparations and all those cooing in the side, lets get to know more about the guys comprising ONE OK ROCK. Last time, we discussed Ryota and Taka’s profiles, now let’s talk about ONE OK ROCK’s leader and lead guitarist Toru Yamashita. Here below is his profile and some facts I managed to get online.

Thanks to ONE OK ROCK fans unite, ONE OK ROCK wikia, and Tumblr land for the tidbits on the band! And thanks to the artist of this super cool sketch of Toru!

Name: Toru Yamashita
Position: Guitar and Vocals
Birth Place: Osaka
Birthday: December 7, 1988
Horoscope: Sagittarius
Blood Type: O
Height: 177 cm
Weight: n/a
Favorite Place: where there is a lot of action
Least Favorite: where the time doesn’t seem to fly by
Hobbies/Special skills: to make a go of my hobby, mixed with my specialized skilled (refer to making music) and to perform on stage and inspire the audience!
My Boom: to style my room
First CD Bought:  Sisqo
Favorite Guitarist: RIZE no Jesse
Instagram: @toru_10969

Facts:

• He was with Ryota in the hip-hop group HEADS before its disbandment in 2002
• Ryota is his childhood friend
• He is the leader of ONE OK ROCK and its founder even if he is the one of the youngest (he founded the band when he was sixteen or seventeen)
• The thought of making ONE OK ROCK occurred after HEADS disbanded and he got fired from his job
• Like Ryota, he also went into acting (As seen in Kamen Rider and Sh15ya) but only on minor roles. He is also the one who takes pleasure in messing with people and laughs a lot.
• Is a very big Avril Lavigne fanboy
• Joins Taka when beating up Tomoya
• He has a nephew and niece who likes to clap when Deeper Deeper is played
• He does have an older brother
• Ryota once admitted he got close to Toru because of his personality.
• Ryota also said Toru was a former victim of bullying which reached to a point that Toru’s face got scrawled on by marker and sometimes, water would be poured on him.
• He was quite mature even in kindergarten years, acting like an adult. Taka is also said to share this trait with Toru
• He is the most popular kid with girls while in elementary school.
• He recruited every member of ONE OK ROCK, stalking Taka in the process.
• He also prepared their studio two weeks after recruiting everyone.
• Taka said Toru can be quite intimidating. Toru learnt of Taka when he saw Taka’s live in 2004 and was impressed with his vocal range.
• When he introduced Taka to Alex, Tomo and Ryota, they got mad at Toru because Taka was quite rude and moody in those days.
• When the band was just starting, he would write long emails to each member to boost their spirits before each live.
• He took over as lead guitarist after Alex left and was quite happy he did.
• His face looks like Gachapin because of his straight face look.
• A master in beatbox (as seen in  残響リファレンス)
• He smokes
• Does not have tattoos because he’s scared of needles
• His Instagram is quite new in comparison to his bandmates.
• He can play the harmonica
• He raps in some of their songs, such as in  努努-ゆめゆめ- and Keep It Real
• He likes a girl who is good at reading moods and those who do not wear too much makeup.
• He is sometimes accused of dyeing his hair because he admires Avril so much.
• Once grew a mustache and colored his hair brown in their stint at the VANS Warped Tour, but dyed it back to blonde when he returned to Japan.
• Sometimes writes lyrics and helps in writing songs such as Mighty Long Fall and Living Dolls
• He is the one who did the instrumental in the albums such as Coda from 残響リファレンス and Where An Idiot Should Go~ from 人生 × 僕 =
• When ONE OK ROCK got the chance to meet Avril, Avril mistaken him as the drummer and envied Tomoya when Avril commented how much she likes Tomoya’s green hair
• He is third oldest member of ONE OK ROCK.
• He is often seen as the “father” of ONE OK ROCK – Tomoya labeled him as such in one of their interviews
• Admitted he felt uneasy on having Jon Feldmann produce their music
• Out of ONE OK ROCK, his English is quite good without a sliver of Japanese accent or sentence typos. But he didn’t join the interviews with Tomoya since they didn’t understand English that much.
• Can be quite flexible (but not as good as Ryota)
• According to the elderly, Toru was born with a lot of luck
• His first live was RIZE when he was in 6th grade. He was dancing at that time of the live and just so happens RIZE was on the same location.
• He doesn’t forget to bring his iPod/phone with him on tours
• He said 2013 is their best year since that was the time the world heard ONE OK ROCK and gave them love
• When they were first starting, Toru would boss the other members, including on playing their instruments properly.
• Once had pink hair
• When Alex left, he was the most stable out of all of them, comforting Taka who thought the world was collapsing on him again.
• Likes Linkin Park
• He couldn’t speak in Mandarin correctly when in Taiwan for their tour
• His cake on his birthday is often a strawberry cake
• He made the song 69.
• Toru’s trademark fruit is a banana since it kept appearing throughout the 人生 × 君 = tour
• In a book Ryota once found, it said that those born on September 4th (Ryota’s birthday) and those born from December 7 (Toru’s birthday) are meant to be good friends.
• Admits he found the cover of “A Thousand Miles” they did in Mighty Long Fall in Yokohama Stadium was a weird song that he found hard to feel in his body.
• He admitted he cried at his brother’s wedding.
• He actually did not follow Avril Lavigne for a month when he first joined in Instagram and he also seldomly updates his account. one fan even commented he should update the blog (which he did).
• On backup vocals, he provides the backup screams like in NO SCARED
• Once debated with Ryota on whether or not he should watch Avril in a festival and once he did, he was pushed away while trying to watch from the sidelines.
• Taka always teases Toru about his fantasies of dating Avril Lavigne and her getting married twice to two different vocalists Toru really liked.
• Toru and Taka share the same fashion styles and would hang out with one another much like how Ryota and Tomoya are seen hanging out with one another
• He is still trying his best to get better in playing a guitar since he first played a rhythm guitar prior to Alex’s withdrawal from the band.
• He wears a fedora from time to time.
• Toru and Ryota lived in a dormitory of Amuse on the first few months of ONE OK ROCK.
• It was Toru who introduced Takeru Satoh and Taka to one another, letting the actor into the backstage of ONE OK ROCK in one of the band’s live shows which led to their friendship.
• He once said that he is someone who owes a lot to ONE OK ROCK since he experienced hardships and happiness while in the band.

==============

It is without a doubt that ONE OK ROCK would not be here without this man’s determination. Are you one of this man’s followers and are you ready to swoon with his smile and his legendary guitar skills? If you are, tickets to ONE OK ROCK “The 2016 35xxxv Asia Tour” Live in Manila is still available at all SM Tickets branches nationwide. You can also check out SM Tickets Online or you can also call SM Tickets at 420-2222. Don’t miss out ONE OK ROCK’S first major live in the Philippines coz who knows when they will come back! Currently, new areas are open but hurry before they all run out!

This super cool event is brought to us by PULP Live World, 28 Black and Amuse Asia Inc. Event partners also include Monster Radio RX 93.1, MYX, The Philippine Star, Astroplus, Odyssey Music Video, Pulp Magazine, G/ST and SM Mall of Asia Arena.

For more details for this event, visit either http://pulpliveworld.com/shows/2016/one-ok-rock

or

https://www.facebook.com/events/964161710306885/

For show updates, follow @PULPLiveWorld on Twitter or through its Facebook page. Of course, you can also follow this blog and its’ official Twitter feed @oneistoinfinity for updates!

How many days left? The anticipation is killing me!!!!